wish FCPS approached TJ admissions from the perspective of innocent students, rather than enticing them to join despite subpar algebra 1 skills and consequentially suffer with poor grades, all just to fulfill a diversity chart.

Anonymous wrote:Are there really so many people unable to understand the difference between math aptitude/smarts and having already been taught the correct material in the way one individual high school expects it to have been taught? "Remedial" in this case might mean correcting poor instruction from their former MS teachers, or introducing / expanding on material that their MS didn't teach, or polishing them up to get from a "normal school top achiever" to "TJ level". It doesn't mean the student isn't capable or fully deserving of a spot at TJ.

Are there really so many people unable to understand that it's not about being taught "the way one individual high school expects it to have been taught," but rather about having any real understanding of the material? Due to grade inflation, there's no way to tell the difference between a kid who actually understands the material and one who simply knows how to follow an algorithm for problems laid out exactly the way they were taught, but has no real understanding of the underlying math. Due to grade inflation, both the "normal school top achievers" and the slightly above average kids are getting As and are indistinguishable. Merely having an A in math class (only through the first half of Algebra I, before many conceptual leaps even happen) and being able to write a pretty essay doesn't mean that the student is capable of succeeding at TJ.

You're also looking at TJ as a prize to be won rather than a school that may or may not serve any individual student well. Kids who are admitted to TJ without the requisite math skills and understanding are being set up to fail. Kids who will work their tails off just to end up in the bottom 1/4 of TJ students are sabotaging their futures. It's inappropriate for FCPS to tell kids that they're qualified for TJ and will be successful there if it's likely not true. Baseline tests for math proficiency and science reasoning ability could be used either to prevent kids from entering TJ who are unlikely to succeed, or at least to give the kids feedback about the hurdles they will need to overcome to succeed at TJ. It's much better than telling kids that since they have an A in Algebra I, they'll be fine in TJ math, only to pull the rug out from under them later and tell them that they in fact don't understand Algebra and need to relearn it.

Are there really so many people unable to understand the difference between math aptitude/smarts and having already been taught the correct material in the way one individual high school expects it to have been taught? "Remedial" in this case might mean correcting poor instruction from their former MS teachers, or introducing / expanding on material that their MS didn't teach, or polishing them up to get from a "normal school top achiever" to "TJ level". It doesn't mean the student isn't capable or fully deserving of a spot at TJ.

Anonymous wrote:Let's take an actually useful lesson here:

Thanks to TJ's new admissions system, FCPS is exposing middle schools where the top 1.5% of students are enrolled in Algebra, getting As, but not learning algebra. Imagine what the situation is for the rest of the students at these schools.

I'd rather TJ admit kids in Math 8 and able to pass the test, than kids in Algebra who can't.

That's a far more important problem to solve.

That's an interesting point. Grade inflation is a huge problem, and entirely too many kids are getting As in classes while only having a C level of mastery. Among the 8th grade Algebra I students with straight As who need extensive remediation at TJ, I'd be curious about what fraction even came from FCPS vs. the other schools. The new admissions process greatly increased the number of kids coming from PWC. Are those kids the ones who are largely ill prepared for TJ?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that was a smart kid school?

We have moved away from Evaluate, Admit, & Excel merit world to a Admit, Evaluate, & Remediate equity world!

Sad and pathetic, but true.

At least now this less common than when kids were being prepped with copies of the test.

Awwh! secret Curie lover!

What is Curie?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate the existence of TJ

specifically hate the Math they teach there. They want student to slog staying up till the wee hours but given nothing but a C. Cruel!

TJ grading is notoriously stringent. Coming from middle school where getting an A was as easy as plucking Apples from a low hanging tree branch and loading up a sack bag, getting a B at TJ feels like finding a half dried coconut after crawling through a hot dessert.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate the existence of TJ

specifically hate the Math they teach there. They want student to slog staying up till the wee hours but given nothing but a C. Cruel!

If a student who is struggling with math is put in the nation's most rigorous magnet school, of course it's a recipe for disaster. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the school or the students, it's just a fit issue.

Trolls don’t deserve a response.

People go to TJ because They *want* to struggle. Otherwise they’d stay at base school.